Pre-whatever

The Titans were horrible in a Friday night preseason game at San Francisco. Should fans be worried? No, fans should be confused.

The preseason is like getting a date from a hot girl that you've liked from afar for a long time. But, before the date commences you are forced to watch that girl take 'practice' dates with other guys for an entire month. Not only that, on every date she dresses differently, talks differently, sometimes she pays, sometimes she waits for the guy to pay, and on the final one she just stares into space and grunts responses to everything the guy says. It's a total confusing mess. And you have no idea what to expect when the 'real' date begins.

The Titans could have played a vanilla scheme because the 49ers run a 3-4 defense, which is what the Steelers run. The only similarity between the 49ers' D and the Steelers' D is the 3-4 formation. The Steelers have much better players, although I'd test that secondary. Also the Titans played their starting center at left tackle. Why? Well, Brad Hopkins is injured so the Titans may start two rookie tackles in the opener. Justin Hartwig at tackle just gives the Titans more options, and creates confusion when the Steelers coordinators look at the game film. According to the box score I read, backup center Eugene Amano had six carries in the game. Talk about versatility.

The same confusion goes to the college fantasy league. Week one is the toughest week of the year, and here's why. It's hard to keep track of the twenty plus schools on my roster, let alone all 119. Unlike the NFL, most college teams run some kind of RBBC, so the 'named' starter may get six carries. That's why, in a league with a roster of 45 players that I might end up with 20 running backs, just to be sure I get a week one starter. It's a tough choice between an iffy big-program guy going against a scrub opponent (like any of the Missouri guys against Arkansas State) or Garrett Wolfe of Northern Illinois, who had 1,685 rushing yards last year but might not start and his team plays at Michigan.

These are the things I worry about as my friend Mark stands on the roof of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He's a reporter at the paper. His wife is a photographer. I think the Four Horsemen just galloped by the Superdome.